Defense agencies and classified networks aren’t the only entities that need to worry about foreign nation-state interference anymore. Today, strategic competitors are investing heavily in gaining access to commercially developed technologies, academic research, and high-value personnel, often well outside of fields that concern national security.
For organizations operating in sensitive industries like energy, life sciences, artificial intelligence, and advanced manufacturing, this exposure is growing. The challenge lies in knowing where the risks are coming from and what they look like.
Open-source intelligence (OSINT) offers an effective way for security and compliance teams to vet high-risk personnel and partners. OSINT can help screen for real-world red flags, contextualize affiliations, and uncover connections that could indicate elevated risk. Importantly, this process relies entirely on publicly available data, making it transparent and ethical.
Nation-state risk doesn’t always appear as a direct cyberattack or a covert relationship. Often, it surfaces in more routine ways:
These factors don’t automatically disqualify someone or something. But they do warrant a closer look, especially when layered with other indicators.
Unlike internal background checks or classified watchlists, OSINT draws from publicly available information sources: social media, news articles, academic publications, regulatory records, patent filings, business registries, and more. It can help teams assess:
Educational background often plays a central role in long-term research and development partnerships. OSINT can help determine whether an individual has worked with institutions known to be closely linked with foreign governments, military programs, or politically exposed funding sources.
In an increasingly interconnected global market, identifying who actually owns or funds a partner organization can be difficult. OSINT makes it easier to analyze corporate structures, board memberships, or funding sources to reveal links to state-affiliated entities or sanctioned regimes.
By looking at public employment history, publication records, and professional networks, security teams can gauge whether an individual has operated in environments that might introduce compliance risks or national security concerns.
This is particularly valuable in sectors where foreign investment or partnership is common but still requires due diligence.
Even before a technology enters production, its relevance may be visible in academic work or patent filings. OSINT helps determine which research areas are receiving disproportionate attention from foreign-aligned entities, and whether internal work aligns with those areas.
When conducting open-source research for potential foreign influence or exposure, here are common indicators worth flagging:
These signs may not confirm malicious intent, but when several surface together, they justify additional scrutiny in high-stakes environments like AI, biotech, aerospace, and cybersecurity.
Traditional security tools are rarely designed to review academic CVs or cross-border business partnerships. But in today’s environment, a university lab or early-stage startup may be working on technologies that align with another nation’s long-term strategic goals.
OSINT helps fill that visibility gap. It gives security and compliance leaders the public-domain context needed to make informed, defensible decisions about potential risk, whether in talent acquisition, external partnerships, or internal access control.
Used properly, OSINT is about context, making sense of public data to uncover patterns that internal systems often miss. When red flags emerge, organizations can investigate further, apply targeted controls, or adjust policy accordingly.
This approach respects privacy and supports compliance, while still providing the insight necessary to stay ahead of strategic risk.
Geopolitical risk is now a commercial reality. From corporate security to global compliance, teams must be equipped to anticipate where strategic interests may intersect with their operations.
As the boundary between commercial innovation and strategic interest continues to blur, OSINT gives organizations a way to see the bigger picture before the risk becomes a problem.
Ready to act? Skopenow is built for these moments, empowering security teams to make data-informed assessments about partnerships, personnel, and emerging risk.
Join over 1,500 organizations—including 50+ U.S. government agencies—that rely on Skopenow to collect and analyze publicly available information at scale. Learn more and schedule a personalized demo today at www.skopenow.com/try.